I was not impressed by Magic Through the Mirror. Although the premise is interesting, and this is marketed as a young adult book, it’s written at a less than middle grade level. The themes are too mature for a younger audience, but the book does not deliver.

All character appearances are over described. The author seems to be trying to use more sophisticated words without really grasping their meaning, as there are often words that don’t really fit. It’s as if they were using a thesaurus in an attempt to make it appear as though they were older with a wider vocabulary.

It started off poorly, and was completely unbelievable within the first few pages (and this is before any of the fantasy came into play). There’s no way to tell when there are time skips in the prologue except Rachel’s age suddenly changing, and it’s very confusing.

Starting from chapter one, there’s nothing relatable about Rachel. She’s annoying and bratty and makes the reader totally lose interest in reading the story at all. The complete disconnect between how the world works and how the story progresses before the fantasy world comes into play is just overwhelming.

In conclusion, I think the author should continue to practice writing, but stick to genres closer to their current writing style/ability to improve. I truly believe they could one day blossom into a great writer. However, I cannot recommend this book.